


sky blue sky

by jaylocked



Series: the foxhole - coffee shop au [1]
Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Smoking, That's it, andrew is a surly barista who never gives him what he orders, everybody works at a coffee shop except neil, idk why it's so long, that's the premise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 16:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7322869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaylocked/pseuds/jaylocked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neil collects the cup a moment later, almost absently, as he thinks back to the nightmare that had started his day. He takes a sip, planning to turn away, and is almost assaulted by the sheer quantity of sugar in his drink. Who knew coffee could taste that sweet? It’s disgusting.</p><p>Neil looks back to Andrew, who is once more leveling a blank gaze at him, hazel eyes deeply unimpressed. Neil quirks an eyebrow, confused. It’s definitely not worth it to say anything. After all, it’s been engrained in him not to draw attention to himself, to order whatever is blandest and least interesting, to get in and out best he can.</p><p>He can feel the weight of Andrew’s gaze on his back as he leaves the cafe, but he tries to ignore it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sky blue sky

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the tumblr prompt: "I purposely get your coffee order wrong just so you'll talk to me again" au  
> but a slight twist on it?
> 
> don't think i need to warn for anything other than smoking, excessive caffeine, and incredibly vague mentions of canon things (think gas and fire)
> 
> title from song by wilco of the same name

Neil has never felt as desperately in need of coffee as he does now. It’s only four days into the semester, but he already hates half of his classes and finds all of his peers irritating, vapid, and pointless. It’s uncomfortable, this whole not-running-and-making-roots-instead thing. Now that he’s supposed to be a normal kid at college, there are huge burdens he’s never had to consider before, like _small talk_ and _name games._

But hey, the FBI ensured him that “Neil Josten” would be safe at Palmetto and his fathers’ men wouldn’t come after him, and that’s incentive enough to figure out what normal people are supposed to do.

Although he’s been slowly experimenting with the various dining options on campus, he has yet to visit the Foxhole, the small cafe with a ridiculous color scheme that people stop at between classes. Given his growing caffeine addiction, it was only a matter of time, he supposes, stopping in front of the small shop.

 _Why’d it have to been orange and white?_ he wonders as he pushes the door open. Sometimes he can’t remember why Palmetto had been such a good decision after all.

He’s still coming down from his run, his shirt sticking to his back somewhat uncomfortably, but it seems best to get coffee before returning to his room, where his roommate would be getting ready for the day (“I’m Kyle, well that’s my middle name but everybody calls me it, so I guess– yeah, anyway, just call me Kyle, but my full name is actually Bartholomew Kyle Kennedy, not like _those_ Kennedys, but not too far off, and yeah what were my parents thinking with the whole ‘Bartholomew’ thing?”).

At this hour, there aren’t many people in the cafe– just one girl crying over her laptop in the corner, a couple holding hands as they wait for their drinks, and the baristas behind the counter. The one behind the register looks overly chipper, a bright grin already in place, even despite the hideous orange apron and hat he had force over his dark hair.

“Hiya, what can I do for you today?” he grins as Neil makes his way to the counter. His name tag (white with an orange font, of course) reads _Nicky_ and it somehow seems fitting.

“Just a large black coffee, thanks,” Neil replies, pulling his campus card out of his shorts pocket and handing it over.

“And can I have a name to go with that, handsome?” Nicky asks with an appraising look. Neil stares blankly at him.

“There’re three other people in here right now. I don’t think there will be any confusion when it comes to claiming my drink.”

Nicky huffs, throwing his hands up in a gesture to indicate his innocence before ringing Neil up.

It’s that kind of shit that he needs to stop doing, he realizes as he slides along the display case towards the counter. Normal people give their names at coffee shops.

The couple have left, and the girl in corner’s crying has subsided to sniffling. Glancing over his shoulder, he watches her frantically scrolling through a Word document and muttering to herself as her breathing evens out.

A dull thunk in front of him prompts Neil to turn back around. A to-go cup of coffee sits in front of him, and the barista who had placed it there is watching Neil with an unnervingly blank look. Apparently “Andrew” is not a morning person, Neil decides as he checks the employee’s name tag.

Andrew looks to be shorter than Neil, which is something of a miracle, and his dark arm bands and flat stare are totally at odds with his pale hair and orange apron. Neil grabs the coffee and takes a sip– it’s not bad coffee, not that Neil really cares about how coffee tastes, but there’s no way it’s black. He can definitely taste some milk and sugar in the drink, which is definitely not what he asked for.

He frowns down at the drink before looking back at Andrew, whose unwavering stare is still fixed on him. Whatever. With a small shrug, he turns back to the door to finish up his run and prepare for dealing with _Kyle_ before his history class.

* * *

The next time he stops in at the Foxhole, it’s between his classes, and there’s more activity in the small shop than at 5am. The tables are mostly full and a low chatter fills the room. Looking around as he gets in line, Neil can’t spot anybody he knows, but that’s hardly surprising– he knows about ten people, if that, at Palmetto, and none of them are people he’d be excited to see now.

When he reaches the front of the line, he’s happy not to deal with Nicky again, instead finding a Kevin standing there with a strangely intent look on his face. The transaction is efficient, something Neil can appreciate, and Kevin doesn’t bother asking for Neil’s name as he hands a cup over to the other barista.

Andrew isn’t wearing his arm bands this time around, Neil idly notes before wondering why he cares. Loitering by the counter, he looks around the cafe for another minute, surprised to see the crying girl from before in a different seat by the window, still bent over her laptop.

“Large coffee,” Andrew calls out, and Neil jerks around to claim his drink. Andrew’s expression is less blank, more apathetic, as he turns away from the drink to work on another. Interesting. Neil grabs his cup before weaving his way out of the coffee, sipping at it as he goes. Definitely black this time, and much better for it. With a satisfied smile, Neil makes his way towards his math class, a little less ready to murder everybody around him.

* * *

The Foxhole becomes one of his normal go-to places between classes, a place to avoid talking to his classmates from the previous or next class and get a caffeine boost while he’s at it. He hasn’t gone back in the morning yet because he realized that if he showers right after his run, he can avoid Kyle’s chatter and duck out for breakfast while Kyle’s still in the shower himself.

Somehow, one day, he actually full-on _chats_ to one of the baristas, a guy named Matt who’s as tall as he is friendly. It’s a bit of a lull in the cafe because Neil’s class got out early, and he’s contemplating how best to kill the few minutes he has before his next class when a voice jolts him out of his thoughts.

“Hey man, how’s your day going?” Matt asks cheerfully as he places Neil’s coffee on the counter.

“Fine,” Neil replies with a shrug. He sips the coffee– fuck, that’s hot. “How’s yours?”

“Pretty good. It’s almost Dan’s birthday, and I’m going full-out for her present. It’s going to be a scavenger hunt. You ever see Parks and Recreation?”

Neil deliberates. Will the conversation end faster if he pretends to have seen it? Probably.

“Yeah, for sure,” he agrees with a nod before taking another gulp of coffee and burning his tongue. Shit shit shit–

Matt beams. “I mean, I’m no Leslie Knope, but it’s kinda modeled after that one episode, the time when Ben has to go on a scavenger hunt and Ron gets super into it, you know?” Neil nods again, only about 60% lost. “I got a bunch of our friends in on it and everything. It’s going to be awesome.”

“Well, good luck,” Neil offers.

“Thanks, bro! Have a great day!”

“You too,” Neil says with an awkward wave. Why is he waving? What’s happening to him? And hot _damn_ was that coffee fucking _burning._

After that, Matt always strikes up a bit of a chat if Neil comes in on his shift. Neil tries to avoid talking to the others, but he inevitably learns their names through Matt’s stories and sheer exposure. He hasn’t seen Nicky since the first day, but Andrew is generally working on Monday/Wednesday afternoons, arm bands and dangerously blank expression nowhere in sight.

Dammit, how has he learned their schedules? This is absurd.

* * *

The sky is just lightening when Neil ends his run, a little over a month into class. The sunrise is obscured by the hills around campus but the colors are beautiful nonetheless. Nightmares had woken him an hour earlier than normal, sweat dripping down his forehead and the smell of gasoline and fire on his tongue.

Running helps. Running always helps, even if he’s not allowed to _keep_ running any longer.

He stops outside the Foxhole, figuring that he may as well grab a coffee before heading back to the room. Kyle would probably be worried about Neil deviating from the schedule, and Kyle’s concern is not something Neil can handle on the best of days, particularly not after the morning he’s had.

“Oh, it’s you again!” Nicky greets with a huge grin when Neil pushes into the cafe, legs still burning from his run.

Neil can’t stop himself from glancing around the cafe, assessing the number of occupants and escape routes and– well, mostly unimportant things, these days. The girl who seems never to leave the cafe is once more crying over her laptop. It’s rather irritating.

“It’s me,” Neil agrees, deadpan, as he sidles up to the counter.

“I never forget a pretty face,” Nicky winks, ringing something up on the register. Neil stares at him and Nicky sighs. “Okay, be like that. Large black coffee again?”

Neil nods as he hands over his card.

“Andrew, large black coffee,” Nicky calls. The blonde flicks him an unimpressed look as he turns to the machine beside him. Neil can’t help but note that he’s wearing the same blank look he’d had when Neil first came in, black armbands in place. _Really_ not a morning person, then.

Neil collects the cup a moment later, almost absently, as he thinks back to the nightmare that had started his day. He takes a sip, planning to turn away, and is almost assaulted by the sheer quantity of sugar in his drink. Who knew coffee could taste that sweet? It’s disgusting.

Neil looks back to Andrew, who is once more leveling a blank gaze at him, hazel eyes deeply unimpressed. Neil quirks an eyebrow, confused. It’s definitely not worth it to say anything. After all, it’s been engrained in him not to draw attention to himself, to order whatever is blandest and least interesting, to get in and out best he can.

He can feel the weight of Andrew’s gaze on his back as he leaves the cafe, but he tries to ignore it. Damn, Kyle is going to annoying as fuck when he gets back to the room. Maybe another mile wouldn’t hurt.

* * *

The nightmares keep happening. They’re irregular, but consistent enough to be annoying, and Neil hates that he’s getting used to waking up abruptly, one hand smothering a scream, the other searching frantically for a gun he no longer leaves under his pillow. His endurance, at least, thanks him for it, as he runs longer and longer to make up for it.

For some unfathomable reason, his morning coffees at the Foxhole are invariably anything but black coffee. He’s learning to differentiate between milk and sugar, something he doesn’t care to know. Andrew’s challenging eyes and the black armbands he inexplicably sheds later in the day stop Neil from asking about it, but he does wonder.

The Foxhole is more constant than the nightmares, at least, as he stops by between classes. He now greets not only Matt but Matt’s friend Allison and girlfriend Dan. He learns a bit about them, needlessly careful to remain vague in his own answers, even though he knows that he’s allowed to tell people things now. Conditioning can be hard to break.

Kevin and Andrew are silent when he comes through on their afternoon shifts, which is another constant that Neil appreciates. He’s learning to handle the small talk (although Matt has started smirking every time he tells him that he’s fine, which is concerning), but silence is something he values, especially given that he gets home to Kyle every night.

One afternoon, Neil is shocked to stop by the Foxhole between his morning classes to find Andrew making out with a cheerleader in the corner of the cafe. It’s impossible to reconcile the blank look he has in the morning with the idea of kissing a Vixen, and Neil actually stops just inside the door.

“Hey, Neil!” Dan chirps from behind the register, diverting his attention away from the scene. Brow furrowed, he makes his way up to the front. “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” Neil answers reflexively. “How about you?”

“Pretty great,” she says, handing him back his card. They’d all learned quickly that Neil would only ever order a black coffee. “Just finished my last midterm this morning. God, Thanksgiving can’t come soon enough.”

Neil shrugs.

“Are you going home for the break?” Dan asks. Neil shakes his head. “That’s too bad, but I bet campus will be cool when it’s all quiet. Hey, you’ll be able to stop by here, at least! I think the monsters are sticking around, too.”

“The monsters?”

Dan grins. “Oh, you know the monsters. Andrew, Aaron, Kevin, and Nicky. Well, Nicky’s not so bad, but I know who he’d back in a fight, so...”

Neil frowns, thinks back over the list of names. “Aaron?”

“C’mon, you have to know Aaron!” Dan points to Andrew and the cheerleader in the corner.

“That’s Andrew,” Neil says slowly, confused. Shouldn’t Dan know her coworkers better than this?

Dan smirks. “No, that’s Aaron. They’re twins.” At Neil’s dumbfounded expression, she throws back her head in laughter. “Wow, I can’t believe you’ve been coming in all semester and didn’t know there’s two of them.”

“I mean, it makes sense _now_ ,” Neil says defensively, crossing his arms and looking back at _Aaron_ and the Vixen. They’ve stopped making out, but their heads are still leaned together, a smile evident on Aaron’s face.

“Oh, Renee’s got your coffee,” Dan notes, tilting her head towards the counter, where Renee had set down the drink. “See you later!”

With a small wave (he’s still working on it, ok), Neil grabs his drink and leaves the cafe, his head still reeling. _Twins._

Well. That explains a lot.

* * *

When Neil finally rolls himself out of bed the day before Thanksgiving, he thinks he’s probably gotten two hours of sleep, tops. The other side of the room is blessedly empty, Kyle having gone home for the break the night before.

Neil stretches briefly before going for a run, pushing himself harder and further than he usually goes, trying to lose himself in the thump of feet on the pavement, air rushing in and out of his lungs, the burning of muscles.

He lets himself stop, hours later, outside the Foxhole, panting hard. He leans up against the wall outside the shop, staring up at the faint colors of the sunrise, and gulps in air as deeply as he can. After a few minutes of recovery, he stretches out again. With one last lingering glance towards the sky, he pushes the door open. The girl in the corner is typing furiously on her laptop. Neil worries briefly for her health.

“My favorite mystery man!” Nicky says with his customary grin as Neil approaches the counter. “Black coffee as per usual, I assume?”

“Actually, could I just get some tea today?” Nicky raises his eyebrows in silent question but nods as he punches something in. “Earl Grey, if you have it.”

“More like _Early_ Grey, am I right?” he chuckles with a broad grin. Neil continues staring at him and Nicky’s grin dissipates. “Because it’s like 5am....you know...whatever, it’ll be $2.50.”

Neil leans against the wall as he waits, staring blankly at the ceiling and trying to focus solely on the humming in his legs after his brutal run.

The dull thud of a cup on the counter jolts him out of his reverie. This morning, Andrew looks more considering than empty as he watches Neil retrieve his drink. He leaves the shop without trying it, ignores Nicky’s goodbye, and sits down on the curb outside. He tilts his head back to continue staring up at the sky, eyes tracing over the clouds and the slowly lightening blue.

There’s a chill in the air that he starts to feel as his body recovers from his exercise. When he finally takes a sip of his tea, it sends a tendril of warmth down his body, and he’s pleasantly surprised to find the drink completely unmodified.

_Happy birthday, Mum._

The door behind him bangs open, and he can’t help but turn. Andrew stalks towards him, apron and hat left behind,a black jacket obscuring his form. He smoothly withdraws a pack of cigarettes before dropping down beside Neil. He offers one to Neil, who accepts it, and then lights them both silently.

Neil takes a drag before cupping his hand around the tip, gratefully inhaling the smoke and letting the memories momentarily wash over him.

“Why aren’t you home for break?” Andrew asks after a moment. Neil is startled, but tries not to show it as he takes another sip of his tea. Andrew’s voice is flat, but Neil can sense a curiosity underlying it.

Neil considers how to respond before simply replying, “What home?”

Andrew rakes a thoughtful eye over Neil at that, inhaling deeply at the cigarette. Something shifts slightly in the hazel depths, but Neil can’t pinpoint what. Something in Neil’s chest unfurls at that simple acceptance of something he couldn’t fathom saying to anybody else. The finish their cigarettes in silence, and Neil leaves the cafe feeling better than he expected.

* * *

The Foxhole is closed the next day, on actual Thanksgiving, but Black Friday finds Neil jogging up to the doors bright and early.

“Someday, you’re going to actually have to tell me your name,” Nicky comments as he rings Neil up for one black coffee.

“It’s Neil,” he says in a moment of unexpected honesty. Nicky perks up at that, a huge grin expanding.

“Neil!” Nicky repeats. “I like the sound of that. Andrew, could you please get _Neil_ his regular?”

Andrew looks unimpressed as he slides the coffee to Neil, who raises an eyebrow in response. He leaves the cafe before sipping the drink, ignoring Nicky’s enthusiastic, “Bye Neil!” on his way. He deliberates a moment before settling down on the curb, drinking in the last remnants of the sunrise.

He hadn’t woken as early that morning, but his run had been cut short given his still aching muscles from his mother’s birthday. He can’t tell if he’s waiting for Andrew or not as he nurses his coffee, which is actually black for once.

At the sound of the door behind him banging open, Neil resists smiling by taking another sip. He accepts the proffered cigarette wordlessly, inhaling the smoke with his eyes closed. He doesn’t look at Andrew once, but he can feel the hazel gaze resting on the scars on his cheeks.

“What brought you into our humble establishment so early on Wednesday, _Neil?_ ” the other boy finally asks, sarcasm and curiosity warring in his voice. He emphasizes the last word with a hint of derision, as though he hates knowing the name.

Neil turns to look at him, meeting his hazel gaze and drinking in the angles of his face. He’s...handsome, which is not something Neil usually thinks to notice.

“It was my mother’s birthday,” Neil says, breaking the silence and flicking his eyes back to the sky. He lets it hang, unexplained, leaving it up to Andrew to decipher it at his will.

When he stubs the butt out a few minutes later, he leaves Andrew behind without a backwards glance.

* * *

The next morning, Andrew follows him out before Neil has even closed the door fully. Nicky says something that Neil tunes out as he folds himself down on the curb. The sky is fully blue today, no remnants of the sunrise to contemplate, a product of him finally sleeping normally for once.

His coffee is black again.

Before Andrew has finished lighting the cigarettes, Neil turns to him and studies him once more.

“Why did you mess up my drinks?” Neil asks, relishing the surprised expression that Andrew offers. The barista takes a long drag of his cigarette and blows it just past Neil’s face.

“Didn’t expect you to actually ask now,” he finally says. Neil frowns at the evasion.

“You don’t know me. You shouldn’t expect anything.”

Andrew tilts his head at that. Neil sips at his coffee for a long, silent moment, before Andrew shrugs and looks away.

“The first time, it was just to mess with you. But then you didn’t say anything, so I wanted to see what I had to do to make you actually snap. You know, what I gave you last week was basically just a vanilla latte.”

His tone is even, almost sounding bored, but Neil thinks there’s something underneath it. He continues to study him.

“Take a picture. It’ll last longer.”

Neil rolls his eyes and looks into the distance, trying to parse Andrew’s answer.

“There’s no way you give people the wrong drink just to fuck with them,” he says slowly. “You’d never keep your job.”

Andrew shrugs again. “Who says I want to keep my job?” He takes another drag. “And I never said that I give _people_ the wrong drink. I just gave it to you.”

“What makes me special?”

Andrew slants an unimpressed look towards Neil. “You’re not _special_.” He pauses. Exhales. “You might be interesting, though.”

Neil doesn’t try to bite back the smile that spreads. “Interesting, huh?”

“I hate you.”

Neil takes another drag of his own cigarette, breathing in the comforting smoke.

“What makes me interesting, Andrew?”

Andrew glares at Neil, who’s balancing amusement and confusion. What could Andrew find interesting about _him_?

Finally, after both their cigarettes are down to the filter, Andrew tosses his away and leans towards Neil. “Yes or no?”

Neil drinks in the gold-flecked eyes inches from his own, the messy blonde hair, and the thinly-veiled impatience and discomfort beneath it all. With a small smile, Neil leans forwards, meeting Andrew above his abandoned cup of coffee.

* * *

When they break away, minutes or hours or days later, Neil breathing heavily, Andrew looking ruffled despite himself, Andrew mutters, “I fucking hate black coffee.” and drags Neil back inside to try some sugary drink.

(Neil hates it. Andrew doesn’t care. Somehow, impossibly, they make it work.)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! please let me know if there are any mistakes- i just wrote this in one go, and i think tense may be wacky in places. also, i tried to toe the line of humor/angst with neil adjusting to college, so i'd love feedback on how that came off, because he's probably a bit traumatized from his ambiguous background here, but also like just so awkward? idk.
> 
> ~~(also...if you're interested in this from andrew's pov i'm toying with writing that, so let me know if that sounds like something worthwhile.)~~
> 
> (update: the next work in this series is this from andrew's pov if you're interested!)
> 
> have a fantastic day! (and feel free to come yell at me at my new tumblr, exysexual!) :)


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